The most improved student. The worst student. The one you should not have passed.

[WaScubaDude]

Tell us about your experience teaching. The good, the bad, and ugly.

[RECDiver]

I have a question for you. Why would you certify someone who shouldn't be certified?

[Charlotte Smith]

Don't think there will be many posts on this thread.......except maybe on most improved....

[scubasavvy]

I've had some people in my OW class and confined dives who shouldn't be let near a pool let alone with scuba gear on...and they somehow passed. I wasn't really watching their performances of the skills as I was trying to focus on my own, but they were bad.

[PlatypusMan]

Originally Posted by RECDiver

I have a question for you. Why would you certify someone who shouldn't be certified?

..and then admit it IN PRINT for someone to unearth at a later date prior to trial?

[Vercingetorix]

Originally Posted by RECDiver

I have a question for you. Why would you certify someone who shouldn't be certified?

Agreed. That would be irresponsible and a very dangerous disservice to the student and those who dive with him/her.

Ya may request that Larry modify the title.

[dutchman]

It is all about the money. Quantity not quality. If it were not so, there would be far less certified divers. Less divers means less equipment sold. Less sales equals fewer discounts and so on. The dive shops are in business to make money not really teach. You get the basics and hopefully you come back for more training, gear and dive trips. You don't piss off your customers. In business the customer is always right even when they are wrong. My 2 cents worth.

[thesmoothdome]

I'll take a stab about the worst student I ever taught.

I had a 68 year old women who's new boyfriend dove and wanted her to be certified. Nice enough lady. Seemed to enjoy the first academic session and passed the swim test fine. No worries. Well, we did the usual put your face in the water and breathe through the regulator bit and then I had the students sit on their knees in the shallows and breathe. She made it down but immediately stood up. We tried a few more times, interspersing standing with her face in the water, but each time she just wouldn't stay on her knees. Eventually, we agreed that we'd do an extra private pool session the next day to see if we could build her comfort level.

Long story short, she confided in me that she had no idea that we would be UNDER the water. She just thought we would be swimming around the surface.

I think we did an extra 2 pool sessions before she had the nerve to tell her boyfriend that she didn't want to dive.

I'll even take a stab at the one who shouldn't have been certified, but the truth of the matter is that I was just a DM at the time, but feel a little complicit.

My mother took a class from the shop I was DMing for and was a nightmare. She made it through all the skills and made the dives, but had 0 comfort in the water. The instructor admitted that if it wasn't for the fact that she'd be diving with me, he would never have passed her. Even so, she never made a dive outside of that class.

[Kidder]

Originally Posted by thesmoothdome

I'll take a stab about the worst student I ever taught.

I had a 68 year old women who's new boyfriend dove and wanted her to be certified. Nice enough lady. Seemed to enjoy the first academic session and passed the swim test fine. No worries. Well, we did the usual put your face in the water and breathe through the regulator bit and then I had the students sit on their knees in the shallows and breathe. She made it down but immediately stood up. We tried a few more times, interspersing standing with her face in the water, but each time she just wouldn't stay on her knees. Eventually, we agreed that we'd do an extra private pool session the next day to see if we could build her comfort level.

Long story short, she confided in me that she had no idea that we would be UNDER the water. She just thought we would be swimming around the surface.

I think we did an extra 2 pool sessions before she had the nerve to tell her boyfriend that she didn't want to dive.

I'll even take a stab at the one who shouldn't have been certified, but the truth of the matter is that I was just a DM at the time, but feel a little complicit.

My mother took a class from the shop I was DMing for and was a nightmare. She made it through all the skills and made the dives, but had 0 comfort in the water. The instructor admitted that if it wasn't for the fact that she'd be diving with me, he would never have passed her. Even so, she never made a dive outside of that class.

Wow zero comfort is scary. My friend's mom was/ is using scuba diving to overcome her fear of water. The way I hear it she didn't even like getting her face wet before. I think that she still will not dive with out her instructor though. They are thinking a full face mask may be good for her as long as she's still can do clearing skills etc..